A 15-year-old student of an English medium school in Bhosari,Shubham Shirke,was allegedly kidnapped for a ransom of Rs 50,000 and then murdered on Saturday by two minors,both school dropouts,one of whom was Shubhams classmate till Class VIII ,and an accomplice. The Vishrantwadi police nabbed the three on Sunday while Shubhams body was found in a secluded spot in Dighi.

The police said around 2 pm on Saturday,Shubham,a Class X student of Priyadarshani English Medium School,Bhosari,got a call on his cellphone from one of his friends asking him to meet them. Senior inspector Motichand Rathod said,Shubham stepped out of the house few minutes after the call after telling his family members he was going out to play. Around 5 pm,Shubhams father,Mahadev,got a call on his cellphone saying his son was kidnapped. The kidnappers asked him for a ransom of Rs 50,000 and threatened to kill Shubham.

Fearing that involving the police would endanger his sons life,Shubhams father,along with five-six friends,went to Bhosari where the abductors had asked him to come with the money. Shubhams father could only arrange for Rs 15,000 and he told them that he would the give rest of the money in a day or two. There he got a call asking him to keep the money on the footpath in front of a hotel in Bhosari. A motorcycle-borne person,whose face was covered,came to the spot and picked up the bag some time between 9.30 pm and 10 pm. The kidnappers told Shirke that his son would come back in some time. Rathod added.

After Shubham did not return for the next one-and-a-half hours,his family approached the police. One of Shirkes friends who accompanied him to Bhosari had noted down the number of the motorcycle on which the suspect had picked up the money. Rathod added,We started an inquiry based on the bike number and the number of public calling booths from where the calls were made. We got to know these were some boys from Aptenagar area. Early on Sunday,the police nabbed two minors,both aged 16,one of whom was Shubhams classmate till Class VII in the same school and had left studies after Class VIII. The other is a Class V dropout while their accomplice Amit Ram Chandra Nayar (19),has appeared for his HSC exam.

Rathod said,They told us that they had taken Shubham in a car and had tied him to a tree at a secluded spot in Dighi. We searched the area at night but could not locate him. In the morning,we found Shubhams body near a bridge. He had been strangulated with a belt and there was also a deep wound made by a sharp weapon on the neck. Prima facie,it seems they feared Shubham would reveal their identity and killed him.

Shubhams father Mahadev said he was not in a condition to talk and the family was in a state of shock. A neighbour of the Shirke family said Shubham was a well-mannered boy,did well in studies and had just finished his SSC exams. The three have told us they wanted to earn easy money and planned to kidnap Shubham as they knew both his parents work for a private firm in Chakan, said Rathod.